The Story of Jin
by eachpeach
Summary: more than just the girl in the tea shop... ...more of Jin's childhood is revealed now that chapters 4 and 5 are finally up
1. Chapter 1

A busy street in the lower circle of Ba Sing Se, crowds of people pressed together, evening was falling and many were hurrying home even as others spilled out into the streets for the city never really stopped. Stalls were being dismantled, vendors packing up what wasn't sold even as new booths were being set up for the night trade. The cloying and spicy smells of hot food stands filled the cooling air as did the cries of hawkers and the grumble and whine of heated bargaining. Buskers with their strange, lilting music and the antics of acrobatic street performers caused small groups of people to congregate around them disrupting the flow of movement. The Lamp Lighters were making their rounds so that the warm, orange glow of the lamps spread a sphere of brightness across the faces of the people that passed and flickered on the wares of the stalls close by. In the chaos, a girl slipped unnoticed through the throng, wrapping her self in the shadows, her light touch relieving many of their purses or their jewellery.

She sidled up to a stall where an argument was erupting between the neighbouring merchants over how much room the other was taking up. She took advantage of their distraction to pilfer several of the bangles that were on display. She disappeared into the shadows again and emerged nearby a stand where a boy was selling sweet-rolls. He was busy serving a customer when she suddenly reached out and swiped one from the corner and ran off. He didn't notice her. Few ever did. She was ravenous and tore into the roll as she veered down another busy street then darted into a side alley and scrambled up over a wall into the next. There were no lamps and it was dark but the haphazard warren that was the backstreets of the lower circle was her home and she knew it well. She slid through a narrow aperture that existed where a wall met the street and found herself in a dinghy basement piled unfathomably high with odds and ends; broken furniture, damaged statues, moth-eaten silk hangings and rugs, huge cracked vases, split barrels full of rusting armour and weapons, crates held dusty scrolls or chipped porcelain. And in the middle of this was Mother Lu. She sat on a low cushioned chair before a small wood stove in the centre of her domain, a tiny, wiry old lady covered in layers of tawdry brocade; pawing through a box of silk skeins with one hand, in her other was a sharply glinting needle while she rested her embroidery on her lap. She was listening as a green-looking youth with eyes downcast was reporting to her.

"What?" Her voice was rich and earthy. She had stopped rummaging to look at the boy who quailed beneath her glance.

"I'm sorry Mother Lu I couldn't find him I looked everywhere but he ain't comin' out of what ever hole it is that he's found either that or he's been taken by the Watch but no one's heard nothing or they ain't talking."

The hand holding the needle whipped down and stuck the boy in the arm. He yelped and clutched at his arm.

"Understand Yei, if that ingrate is not found by tomorrow morning, I will hold you _personally_ responsible for the necklace he took with him."

"But…"

"If you want to find him before tomorrow morning than I suggest that you start looking now."

She looked back at her embroidery as he ran up the rickety steps that led to the rooms upstairs.

"And what have my little magpies brought me today? Hmm?"

The girl and a few other children emerged from their refuges in the shadows of the room taking it in turns to offer up their days work. Mother Lu rocked and cooed, often grabbing at scrolls to unfurl then and study their quality or snatching up jewellery to hold out to the light. The inhabitants of the lower ring were never wealthy so she was particularly impressed by a particularly heavy silk purse that the girl withdrew from within her grubby robe.

"Look at this all of you. Jin here is the youngest yet once again she has outshone you all." Mother Lu patted the girl on the head then began to count out the fat, clinking silver coins into piles. She groaned as she got up from her chair and went over to the stove where she began to dole out rice into small bowls. When the children were eating contentedly she moved around the room secreting her new treasures into various nooks and crannies. Only Mother Lu knew the extent of the treasures that she camouflaged amongst the worthless articles.

Jin was the youngest of Mother Lu's foundlings at eight, and the other children ranged in age from there up to seventeen though the older youths had not yet arrived home.

"The naughty one has not yet returned. We will not mention his name under this roof until he does. Suffice it to say that he will be punished severely for his wrong doings. Ah he has broken my heart, to think that I have fostered a snake in my house! That one of my own should betray us all. It is too much." She said this absently as she moved around the room.

Jin looked around at the other children as they scoffed down their meal. She knew that Mother Lu was talking about Yoli and stopped herself before she sighed or worse cried. She liked Yoli. He was one of the older boys and had always been nice to her. He often shared sweets with the younger child that is before he ran off. No one was allowed to leave Mother Lu for good all her foundlings knew that. Worse still, he had stolen a necklace from her as well. She hoped that Yei would never find him even if it meant that he had to take Yoli's punishment. Jin didn't mind so much about that. Yei was cruel and often went out of his way to torment those younger than him.

The children were finished eating and had begun to crawl into the small alcoves amongst the piles of things ready for sleep. Jin curled up in a crate of sour smelling robes that had once been quite fine.

Mother Lu pulled across a ragged curtain so that the light from her lamp and the stove would not bother the children as they fell asleep. She clucked motherly as she helped arrange the blankets around them. She stroked Jin's cheek gently before she returned to her chair.

Jin's eyes were heavy and though she was worried for Yoli, she was warm, snug and content and her eyes soon closed.

A loud scuffling noise woke her. She peeked through a rent in the curtain and saw Yei and another teenager holding onto a bound and gagged Yoli who struggled as they gripped him. Yei handed over a coin bag and Mother Lu weighed it consideringly in her hand. She stood before the captive, slightly shorter than he though terrifying in her bearing. She held a cane and whipped it threateningly in the air.

"So nice of you to come back to me my darling, we were all so worried about you when you failed to return, why we thought that you might have been caught by the Watch."

At her direction, Yei and the other forced Yoli to his knees.

"I seem to have lost a necklace Yoli; do you know where it might be?"

She pulled off the gag even as he shook his head furiously, "I don't know what you're talking about. I know nothing. And I didn't run off I was coming back, honest."

"You know, I'm not sure I believe you. In fact I think that you had decided to leave Mother Lu. I think that you took my necklace and sold it to fund your poor decision to flee me."

The whip came down and thwacked into his back. Yoli arched in pain but managed to hold in his cry. The whip came down again this time across his shoulder.

Mother Lu began to hit him so swiftly that Jin couldn't see the whip move she could only see the red lines that erupted where ever it struck.

Yoli wailed as the cane bit into him but Mother Lu was in a frenzy and soon, not even his whimpers could be heard, his head lolled forward, and when Mother Lu was finally finished and the boys relinquished their hold on him he fell bonelessly to the floor.

Mother Lu casually wiped flecks of blood from her face; with her toe she nudged Yoli's head, "Take him upstairs, Red will clean him up."

She locked the shutters that closed over the apertures that the children used to go in and out of the basement than went up the stairs herself, locking the door behind her.

Jin realised that she had been holding her breath, she looked around, and realised that none of the other children had woken. She wondered what they would have thought of Yoli's punishment. It reminded her of the man, her new father who had married her mother. He used to hit her with a cane too. She felt sick, worried about Yoli, worried that Mother Lu had acted like that man, that ogre from her past who still haunted her nightmares. Would Yoli ever get better after such an attack? Her mother would always rub special ointment into her sore back whenever she was hit. Would Red do the same for Yoli? Her mother had begged her not to make him so angry but she didn't know what she did to provoke him. He always said that she deserved what she got and Mother Lu had said that Yoli deserved such a punishment. Mother Lu had never hit her like that before. Sure she would get the occasional slap when she came home empty handed but she deserved it then. Mother Lu took care of her. Before Mother Lu she could remember coldness and hunger. Her mother had died, and the man had abandoned her in the crowds that first day in Ba Sing Se. They had to leave their village. Bad men were coming, Fire Nation soldiers. Her mother had grown ill, and had died days before they arrived in the city and then Jin had found herself alone. Coldness and hunger filled those days and fear until she had found the shadows. She had wrapped herself in them so that none could see her unless she wanted them too. And then she had found the children of the street and some of them led her to Mother Lu. She hoped Yoli had learnt his lesson. She didn't want him to be hurt again. Mother Lu would never hurt her like that. She was good at what she did. She always came home with more than any of the others. When she wrapped herself in the shadows none could see her. If she pleased Mother Lu always than she would be safe. She would be. Troubled thoughts chased sleep from Jin and she lay awake the night through until Mother Lu ambled down the stairs and woke the others up with the clanking of her cooking pot on the stove as she made them breakfast.

"Jin my love? Take this up to the boys upstairs will you?" Mother Lu handed the girl some bowls of rice porridge and she managed them up the rickety stairs. She emerged into a room as cluttered as the basement with odd, broken furniture and objects as the basement. The older children slept upstairs as did Mother Lu's brother Red.

Jin's eyes were drawn to Yoli who lay on a pallet by the wall seemingly asleep; grimy bandages wrapped around his body.

Jin handed out the bowls to those who were just waking. She didn't like to be up here. The older children often teased her. Red was sitting at a table in the next room, polishing a silver vase. He nodded at her to leave his breakfast on the table. Unlike his sister he was massively built. He hulked over his work with a rounded back. Jin, was backing slowly away from him when he suddenly called out to her, "Girl, give this to Lu." He thrust a slip of paper at her. It was well known by all in the house that neither sister nor brother directly spoke with each other as they were locked in a feud that had run on for years. She nodded hastily, her heart beating faster. She wrapped herself in shadows before she walked through the room of boys, not wanting to be seen by any of them but especially not Yei. She past by unnoticed, and cast one final, worried look at Yoli before running down the stairs to give Mother Lu the note.

The old woman snatched it out of her hands and squinted as she read, "So, he thinks the boy needs some Kota Root Ointment does he. Oh and he _censures_ the heaviness of my hand when I meted out such a punishment as well. Well we'll just see about that." She spoke under her breath as she screwed up the paper and threw it into the stove.

"Very good, Jin dear, now once you've finished this it's off to work with you. Bring me home something shiny." Jin took the bowl and retreated to a corner of the room to eat.

She was the last to leave and crawled out into the filthy alley way. Weak sunshine managed to find its way down to nourish a few weeds that poked weakly from between the cracked stone paving. Jin took to the shadows as she left and slipped into the streets.

It was the afternoon, the sun was thick warm, and made the world lazy. Jin emerged from a shop with a set of carved jade combs. She had taken them from under the nose of the officious shopkeeper himself. Feeling buoyed by her success she ventured further into the part of the lower ring that was closer to the inner wall. Mother Lu had warned them all not to come here to often. The watch was far more vigilant and the risk not worth it despite the richer pickings that were offered. She gazed at the buildings that were larger; the streets were cleaner too as were the people who moved along them. She noticed two finely dressed ladies delicately clutching embroidered purses. They rang the bell outside of a gate and Jin slipped through when they were allowed in by an elegantly dressed servant. Jin found herself in a peaceful courtyard of cool grass and clipped hedges where the sounds and bustle of the street fell away.

The servant led the two ladies inside to the loveliest room that Jin had ever been in. Sheer silken curtains fluttered in doorways, the mosaic floor capered colourfully underfoot, graceful hangings decorated the walls of what Jin guessed was a tea shop, though it was certainly like no teashop she had ever been near. The two ladies settled down at a table and the servant disappeared with their order.

Jin, still wrapped in her shadows watched them from the corner; they did not see her of course. She looked at their white faces, so clear and clean, their long hair was arranged in artful styles. Their robes were made of delicate fabric and complicated patterns of embroidery ran riot across them. They even smelled nicely, like fresh fruit or flowers. She avidly noticed as they set their purses aside, she waited for the disruption of a servant arriving with their tea and crept over picked up one of the purses, reached in and clawed the coins out, they were all silver and she slipped them into her robe. She did the same with the other purse before slipping from the room as the servant slid the screen door open to leave. Jin slunk down the hall and back out into the courtyard. The gate was closed of course but she climbed up one of the statues and jumped across to the wall. She almost missed and slipped a bit as she fought to gain a foothold. Her momentary fear caused the shadows to fall away from her and she found herself in plain view on top of the wall. Servants and guards shouted out as they saw her, and high pitched cries from within signalled that the two ladies had noticed their money missing.

Heart thudding, Jin jumped from the wall and landed painfully in the street below. But she was unable to stop and dwell on her pain for long as the servants and guards poured from the gate calling out for the Watch and began to chase her through the street. She dodged people as members of the crowd tried to take hold of her.

The coins in her robe jingled as she ran down one street and into another. She sought the shadows again and her heart calmed when she realised she had wrapped herself safely and unnoticeably away. She stopped in an empty ally way to regain her breath and was thankful once again for her strange ability to slide out of sight. No one else she had ever known could do what she could and even at her young age knew not to tell anyone about it. No good could come of anyone knowing especially Mother Lu. Who knows what they would make her do then.

She waited as guards from the teashop and members of the Watch ran past her alley way. Despite her near-invisibility, she waited until they were all gone before she began her way back.

The sun was beginning to set, throwing long shadows across the streets from buildings and people passing that were so easy to hide in. Jin was heading back to Mother Lu's when she noticed a man that looked like an easy touch. He was sitting at a grilled eel stand, his head in his hands, and a money bag at his hip hung temptingly. Wrapped safe in her shadows, Jin sidled over and reached out to take it, but he suddenly reached out for it himself and paid the stall owner. He walked unsteadily away, and Jin wondered whether he was drunk. She followed closely behind as he veered into a street that was deserted. She reached out and took hold of the bag, just as his hand closed around her wrist. She looked up at him in shock, he couldn't see her surely, she was wrapped safely in shadow. But sure enough, he looked directly at her with an amused smile.

She tried to break his grasp, to get away but his grip only tightened painfully around her arm.

"Let me go!" she cried as fear filled her, "I wasn't doing anything!" What if he took her to the watch?

"You little girl are coming with me."

Jin bent her head and bit his arm hard, he yelped in surprise and loosened his grip just enough so she could wriggle out of it.

She took off down the street and turned into the next one, she kept on running taking twisting turns, fearful that he would follow her. At last she was certain that she had lost him and was almost in the most familiar section of the lower ring, in the vicinity of Mother Lu's house. She relaxed and slowed to a walk, but kept the shadows around her.

She past by a Lamp Lighter just as the lamp she was lighting burst into beautiful flame. Jin threaded through the grubby though familiar crowd happy to back within her element. She decided that it would be a long time before she ventured to far from her own territory again. She turned into a narrow, dark lane, hungry, tired, impatient to be home. She hoped that Yoli might be back on his feet.

Later, when she was looking back at the moment Jin wondered whether she would have noticed him if she hadn't been so overcome by pensive thoughts.

She failed to hear the sounds of a man drop from the roof of the low building beside the alley; he followed her softly as she turned into another empty, crooked street.

She gasped as he suddenly loomed out of the shadows; it was the man who had caught her before! He lunged at her and she tried to jump aside; too late, he had caught her around the middle and held her struggling.

"You were quite hard to find again little girl." He said in what sounded like a genial voice. "But you actually are coming with me this time." He forced something bitter tasting into her mouth and clapped his hands over her mouth and nose until she was forced to swallow it. His triumphant but almost apologetic face swam before her eyes before all turned black…


	2. Chapter 2

Jin woke and for a moment thought that she was back at Mother Lu's, tucked in her little crate. But just as quickly, she remembered the strange man. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on a sleeping mat in a dim room, though powdery light softened the edges of the blinds across the windows. She looked around warily, the bare chamber was small and she seemed to be alone but there was no door that she could see. Was this gaol? Had she been taken by the watch? She had heard some of the older boys scoffing about their stints in prison and this was definitely not the miserable place that they had described. She cautiously sat up, causing her to clutch at her head as it ached and sent the room spinning. Nonetheless, she ignored the pain and staggered to her feet, overcome by curiosity. Unsteadily she crossed to the window and pulled back the blind. Jin's eyes widened in shock at the view; she had never been so high up before. Her light-headedness only increased as she looked down upon the tops of wide green trees that swept majestically throughout a large garden. She could make out a serpentine river curling playfully around, crossed over with a little wooden bridge. Something in her longed to be able to run out and be amongst such loveliness. It all looked so soft and gentle. She hadn't seen so much greenness since before she came to Ba Sing Se. It reminded her of the countryside that had surrounded her village. Seeing the bridge made her think of the times when she would sit with Uncle Sing Ra as he fished, his thin, crooked legs dangling from the old wooden bridge that crossed the river just beyond the town gate. The sadness threatened to swallow her again. She struggled to hold it all in. One of the first things that she had learned in her life was that crying was useless.

It was just dawn, yellow light stepped slowly across all things below her. She wandered where she might be but of course she recognised nothing that she could see from the window; though she knew that she was a long way away from Mother Lu's. Another pang hit her though this time it was fear. Mother Lu would think that she had run away. Yei would be sent after her and she would be punished like Yoli. But she doubted that he would look for her here, though she didn't know where here was. It certainly was not the lower ring. She looked back around at the blank room. She was no earth bender, the stone walls would not open for her; she was a prisoner. Was the man angry with her for trying to rob him? Maybe he was going to hand her over to the watch this morning. Her fear and uneasiness wrestled with the pain in her head which had not subsided. She let the blind fall back, darkening the room once more. She returned to the mat and almost fell into it. She curled up and shut her eyes tightly, pretending that she was back with her mother in her bed in their small house in the old village before she had got the new father, before her mother had grown ill, before the Fire Nation men had come.

The stone walls grumbled open, Jin lay still, feigning sleep. She heard the footsteps of two people enter the room, though they tread lightly upon the wooden floor. She felt them lean over her and gaze at her inquisitively.

"So it's true; Aris really did bring back a souvenir from the Lower Ring." The voice sounded like it belonged to a young woman.

"Why she is just a scrap of a thing!" This from a young man; tinged with slight surprise.

"And she is filthy." Said the first voice again, wryly though not unkindly. "Aris was no doubt drunk again."

The young man chuckled as he replied, "he says he saw her twisting the light."

"Aris is a fool." Jin hadn't heard this new person enter the room though he sounded as close as the other two were and his voice was hard and cutting, "His acts are rash with no thought of consequences. It is what I have come to expect from him though I did think better of the two of you."

It seemed that the old man had taken the young man and woman by surprise as well.

They hurried to acknowledge him and offered guilty apologies.

"We're sorry Master, we just could not believe that the rumours would be true."

"We should not have come here; please we will not be so foolish again."

"Indeed, you shall not." The old man seemed to linger a while longer after the other two had retreated, though his steps were so light that Jin could not be sure exactly when he had left.

At last, Jin felt safe enough to open her eyes again. The door was still there. Hope rushed through her. She got up, careful to wrap herself in shadows completely. As quietly as she could she walked to the door. Heart thumping, she slowly peeked out. She looked down a long, dark hallway. It was clear both ways though she was unsure which way to go. Eventually, she decided to go right, hoping that she would not run into anyone. The floors were of polished wood, interspersed with soft rugs that felt incredible to Jin's bare feet. She passed normal doors as well as long blank spaces of wall that she supposed might reveal openings only to earth benders. She came to the end of the corridor and gingerly turned into the next one. She found herself taking many turns, and soon, she was sure she was lost. Each hallway was as nondescript as the last and there had been no windows so she had no way of knowing which directions she took in such an eternally dim warren. Nor had she come across anyone. It seemed that she was alone.

She was growing weary, her head still ached and her dizziness had not fully left her. She crouched down in a corner and hugged herself. She had to get out of this place before they realised that she had left the room.

She froze; soft footsteps could be heard coming toward her. She looked up, just as a man carrying a tray with laden with cups and a large teapot hurried past. He hadn't noticed her and she exhaled with relief. She decided to follow him. He had to know how to get out of this endless maze.

He continued straight for a few more moments before halting at a stretch of seemingly blank wall. Balancing the tray with one arm he reached up and stroked the stone which parted for him. Jin was sure to slip in just after him in case he closed off the door again. She blinked, dazzled by the light. She found herself now in a bright and airy place, another corridor but utterly different compared to the one she had just left. The wide windows looked out upon the garden and welcomed in the morning sunshine. Colourful paintings and silk banners adorned the walls at intervals, large vases with intricate patterns stood about almost carelessly. Delicate chimes caught the slight breeze and tinkled pleasantly. The floor was completely carpeted so thickly that her feet seemed to sink in delightfully.

Jin stood stunned for a few moments. Never before had she seen such splendour. The treasures of Mother Lu paled compared to this. Even the elegant teashop now seemed like a poor imitation of this lush opulence. She realised that the servant had long gone on down this new hallway. He was now no where to be seen.

She shook herself slightly; she had to keep going, she had to get out of this place and back to Mother Lu.

Certain that she would come across more people out here, she went along even more cautiously. She passed more richly appointed rooms but came across no one except for a little hunched over lady – most likely a servant – hobbling slowly from one room into another carrying an armful of scrolls.

She looked for a staircase; she needed to go down so she could find a doorway that led out of this place. She didn't want to think what they would do if they caught her walking about this house. It was obvious that she didn't belong in these rich surroundings.

Finally, she spied a staircase at the end of the hallway and she eagerly approached it. As she came closer her ears picked out faint voices coming from a chamber just before the staircase. She would have to pass the wide open doorway to get to the stairs. She took a deep breath. She was in the shadows, she told herself, so they won't be able to see her. She inched forward, and couldn't help but hear the discussion that was taking place within the room. She froze, her skipped a beat then made up for it by beating faster and louder than ever, they were talking about her.

"… idiotic things you have done this is the most foolhardy. What of her family? Will they not be searching frantically for her even now?"

"And the Ascorin Elixir! That was almost an adult dose you gave her. I will be surprised if she wakes up within the week if she is lucky enough to wake up at all!"

"You have very nearly brought shame to the clan, Aris."

Jin looked into the room. It was the man who had taken her! He sat unabashed before four elderly people who sat regally at a low table. Tea had been served though none were drinking.

"I am telling you what I saw…she was bending light so proficiently that I almost didn't see her…" Aris's fevered voice contrasted with the low, calm voices of the elders. He was cut off abruptly by the same old man who had been in the room looking over me.

"Impossible! There is no way that child could be a light bender. You 'almost didn't see her' because you were drunk. Again."

"You will return to the shrine and meditate upon your actions while we deliberate upon your punishment."

Jin realised that they would soon be leaving the room and hastened to the staircase, even as she felt a firm grip around her wrist.

"Well, what do we have here? The little girl."

Jin looked back in horror, for a moment there seemed to be no one there and then the little old lady suddenly materialised right beside her.

For a moment, everything was very still; Jin was petrified with horror, just as the occupants within the room were frozen, surprise and disbelief written across their faces as they stared at the old lady clutching the little girl.

Then all was in motion once more, Aris and the elders were on their feet, Jin struggled against the old lady viciously.

"Look out Rima, she bites!" Aris laughed good-naturedly even as Jin leaned down and bit into the arm of the old woman who held her. It worked again and Jin tore off down the stairs madly looking for escape. Two of the men jumped from the railing at the top of the staircase landing lightly on the floor. One of them seemed to flicker before Jin's eyes, disappearing until she concentrated on finding him again. They both swiftly had her surrounded; standing on either side of her. Jin breathed heavily turning around looking at them both, noticing the two older men, the old woman and the one she knew as Aris watching with interest from above.

"Calm down little girl, you are safe here. No one wants to hurt you." The one who flickered said this in a friendly way, so much so that Jin found herself wanting to believe him. His expression was kind and reassuring. He held his hands out placatingly.

"It's all okay. My name is Shiru. What's yours?"

But Jin wasn't fooled, she stopped looking wildly about for escape, she wanted him to think that she would cooperate. She had noticed the open door at the end of the room.

Her head seemed to be hurting her more than it had been when she first woke up. Her limbs had begun to quiver, though she fought to keep them still. She just had to make it past this man, once she got to the door she could go into the shadows without them watching. Then she could get out of here.

He seemed to be waiting for her answer, she took a breath, her head was really aching now, and black spots seemed to dart across her eyes. She glanced back at the man who stood behind her and looked warily up at the man who had spoken to her. Suddenly she bolted, taking off, trying to run around him and remain out of his reach but he seemed to have known exactly what she was going to do and he was in front of her blocking her way all too quickly.

"You really are quite safe little one. There is no need for all of this." But even as he said this Jin felt tremors pass through her, her legs gave way and she felt herself falling just as the blackness took her away once more…


	3. Chapter 3

Jin opened her eyes blearily, another dim room, hazy figures moved about. People were talking softly.

"… There has been no missing person's report filed with the Watch"

"Just as well, we can't let her go now."

"Hush now, she's awake."

Jin felt someone lift her head and press a small cup to her lips. She almost choked on the strange, sharp liquid that burnt her throat. She was forced to swallow it all as the hand that held the cup held firm until it was all gone.

The hand gently brushed over her face, closing her eyes, "sleep again little one."

Later, Jin could recall waking up several more times only to be administered more of the foul medicine that sent her into fitful sleeps full of hazardous and feverish dreams.

People came in and out of the room looking over her; sometimes they seemed to argue at other times they merely pulled the blankets up more soundly around her. Only the old woman remained, she sat by for long periods of time when Jin was between sleep and wake, stroking her cheek, holding her safely when the tremors wracked her.

Only one moment stood out vividly in her recollections, a heated argument between the old lady who nursed her and the old man, though they kept their voices calm and low.

"There is no way that Kaori could have survived. I'm sorry, no matter how much I wish it was otherwise, no one escaped that night; Kaori died and the child with her. I saw the bodies, what was left of them. The Black Hana Family were completely wiped out as were everyone else who the Dai Li caught there."

"But look at her, she is a light bender, none of you can deny what you saw her doing. She had almost made her way out of the house not to mention that she was half poisoned with Ascorin at the time. How do you explain that?"

"Just because she is a light-bender doesn't mean that she is of the Black Hana Family. Bending skills can lay dormant through out generations until they manifest hundreds of years after the bender-ancestor died."

The old woman made a noise of disbelief before ordering her opponent from the room.

At last Jin woke with her head clear and her limbs no longer feeling heavy. She lay on a comfortable couch, woollen blankets were cosily tucked around her. She was in a room much like the one she had first woken up in, bare except for the couch she lay upon and a low table against a wall that held a tray of bottles and jars. She sat up slowly.

"Ah my little one, it is good that you are feeling better, yes?"

The old lady appeared at the door and set the tray that she held on the table causing the tray of bottles to rattle as she pushed them aside. She wore a simple, dark green robe, and her long grey hair was wound up in a bun. She turned back to Jin with hazel coloured eyes that gazed from a face wrinkled like an old apple.

"You have been quite sick but I have made you right again. You may call me Rima."

She held out a steaming bowl which Jin took eagerly. It was rice porridge and made her think of Mother Lu. Her heart sank.

"My dear, what is wrong you seem uneasy."

At a closed look from Jin, Rima sighed, "You don't have to tell me anything, just eat up while it's warm. I will be just beyond the door preparing a bath for you."

Jin was ravenous and finished the bowl quickly. The sounds of splashing roused her curiosity and she stood up slowly from the couch and inched softly over to the door.

Rima was pouring bucketfuls of hot water into a large tub. She sat the empty buckets into an alcove of the wall which closed off and disappeared only to open moments later again with the buckets brimming.

"Come here child, you will have to tell me your name; I can't very well keep calling you child forever can I?"

Jin obediently approached her.

"Arms up." Rima took hold of the hem of Jin's grubby dress and reefed it over her head

The jade combs and coins made a dull clangor as they fell to the floor.

Jin heard a sharp intake of breath. Horror clutched at the girl's heart, Rima was so nice and now she would hate her and give her over to the watch. Jin waited for the anger, for the accusations but none came. Instead Rima was gently running her hands over the old and new bruises and scar-marks along her back and limbs as though she could smooth them away. The legacy of her step-father.

Rima helped her into the bath. Jin had never felt anything as lovely as the warm water that caressed her. She felt her eyes grow heavy, and her body seemed to loosen and relax.

"So what is your name my little one?"

She felt safe with Rima she hadn't even mentioned the stolen items that lay still where they had fallen. She decided that she didn't mind answering her questions.

"Jin."

"Such a pretty name. And how old are you?"

"I just turned eight."

"Indeed?" Jin thought that Rima seemed pleased with her age. The old woman began to wash her hair, just as her mother used to do.

"What is this place Rima? Why am I here?" Jin turned to look up at her.

Rima paused while she considered her answer, "This is my home, some call it the House of Golden Petals because I love to grow flowers and my garden is always in bloom. We are in the Upper Ring."

Jin's eyes widened at this, people from the Lower Ring were not allowed this far within Ba Sing Se.

"What of your parents Jin, your mother, where do you live?"

She was not allowed to talk about Mother Lu. "My mother is dead. I don't know where the man she married went."

Rima noticed the vehemence in the little girl's voice as she spoke of the stepfather; she glanced uneasily at the scars across her body.

They were both silent for a while as Rima attempted to untangle the girls long hair.

"You must have loved your mother very much, tell me, what did she look like?"

Jin was quiet, why was Rima asking her about this?

"She had dark brown hair like me and brown eyes."

"Brown? I thought that she might have green eyes like you." Rima seemed to be prompting her, urging her for the answer.

"Her eyes were brown." She answered simply and looked up at the old woman who appeared as though she were disappointed.

She helped Jin out of the bath and into new clothes, loose trousers and a long sleeved shirt. They were too big for her but Rima rolled up the cuffs so that she could use her hands and walk more easily.

Jin yawned; the warm bath had made her sleepy.

"Rest again, little one, I will return later." Jin watched as Rima left the room, gently shutting the door.

In what seemed like moments later, Jin felt herself being lightly nudged awake. Rima leaned over her, "We are going to meet with Master Shiru now Jin. You have met him before, but very briefly and you made quite an impression on him."

She was led out into the dim, windowless corridors. They were much darker than they had been before though Rima held out her hand and suddenly, light blossomed encompassing them both in its sphere. Jin looked at the old lady in surprise who gave her a small smile back and a wink before she gestured at her to follow. Jin soon lost count of the turns they took as they passed through the blackness. Eventually Rima stopped and touched the stone wall in a certain place. A door slid open and Jin found herself led out into the bright hallway, lit with luminescent green crystals carved into fanciful shapes and set along the walls at intervals. Lacquered blinds covered the windows, though one had been left open and Jin could just make out the shapes of trees illuminated in the night by lanterns below in the garden. Rima let the light dissipate from her hand as she pressed it upon a door that slid open, "I must leave you here now, but don't worry, you are safe."

Jin found herself alone in a comfortable chamber. Flames rolled lethargically around a large log in the fireplace and spread an orange hue that flickered upon the furniture and the ornaments of one side of the room while the green crystals washed greenly from the walls over the other half.

Jin looked around, but there was no one there. She sat down on the low couch, puzzled, ready to wait for this Master Shiru's arrival.

Then she noticed him, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, studying her. At first it was just a glimpse as she viewed the room again, a fleeting shape that disappeared when she blinked. She stared at the spot again and sure enough, a man was there, for a moment, surprise glanced across his face before it straightened again.

"So you can see me." He stepped forward and threw away his concealment. He sat at the table and gestured for Jin to sit opposite to him.

"Do you know what it is that you do?"

Jin stared at him, confused, and then tentatively, she answered, "I go into the shadows."

"Wrong." He said simply, "You go into the light."

It had always been a thing she did without thinking about it, when she was scared, to keep herself safe, and then to work for Mother Lu. She had never spoken about it to anyone, though she knew no one else who could do the things that she did. Now here was this man, and Rima, and the man who had taken her from the street, all of these people were like her.

"You see Jin, you are a light-bender, like me, and a few others. We are a secret people, hidden for hundreds of years. Though we have never been many, there are now so few of us left that we are almost gone. For that reason, your coming is a blessing to us, a miracle. Although you did not know of us, although we did not know of you, you are a light bender therefore you are of our Clan. We welcome you home."

"The Clan?" Jin was bewildered by all of this, but she could feel something stirring, growing within her, a mixture of curiosity and though she tried to deny it, hope.

"The Hikari, a name known to few, though you must be a good girl and complete your training before you can truly be called one of us."

Jin was not too young to notice that she had been given no free choice in this matter. It was apparent that she would belong to this clan no matter what she thought about it. It puzzled her yet it also made her feel important, the way Shiru spoke of her, as a miracle. He stared calmly down at her, his eyes not unkind, yet she shivered inside, as though things were not at all quite right. Her feelings conflicted, she yearned for what he said to be true, she wanted to learn how to bend her element, she wanted to be of this Hikari even as doubts stole into her heart.

"But I can see that you are tired, you have been unwell, and you are still recovering. I will take you to where the other students sleep. We rise early so it would be best to rest some more."  
Shiru stood and opened a secret door, in the stone wall, revealing narrow wooden steps leading down. From his hand, a bead of light blossomed and floated on ahead, illuminating the way. Down they went through the tunnel of rugged stone; the steps were smoothed with wear in the centre, though roughly hewn at the sides. Jin wondered whether they would ever end when at last they came to a doorway in the wall, though the steps led further down, Shiru halted and pressed the door which swung open,

"Though some of the Clan are earth benders, the doors are wrought so that even we can operate them. You will have to memorise the key-touches and they differ for each door. I will see you at daybreak, until then goodnight."

Jin nodded and followed the floating light into the black room; she saw the shapes of people sleeping beneath blankets on sleeping mats as it passed over them and directed her to an empty mat. She pulled up a blanket just as the light winked out.

She lay in the darkness, listening to the slow breathing of the strangers who slept around her. She curled up, feeling just as she had done after her mother had died and she had been abandoned in the crowds of Ba Sing Se.


	4. Chapter 4

"Who is she?"

"And what is she doing here?"

"I think this is what Mikan and Kebe were going to tell us about before Master Kikutsu interrupted."

"Go on, wake her up, I dare you."

Jin felt herself being shaken none too gently, she opened her eyes and sat up to see three older, laughing girls flee the room.

Jin got up; the other girls had already rolled their mats away so that the floor was bare except for her. She found space in the large cupboard and shoved hers in as well.

Jin poked her head through the doorway, cautiously. She looked up at the way she had come down last night with Shiru but echoes of the girl's chatter could be heard coming from further down the stairs. Jin hurried after them but to her dismay, the corridor soon branched out into other tunnels, some leading up, others down, many just led sideways into the stone. She could no longer hear anyone, she was utterly lost. Despair threatened to overwhelm her when suddenly she heard a strange rumbling noise, as though the tunnel was caving in. She was almost knocked over as a boy blurred by. He was as shocked to see her as she was to see him and he almost slammed into the wall as he tried to stop.

He was short and stocky, and so dirty that when he swung his head to look at her little crumbs of stone and earth fell from his hair.

"What are you doing down here? Which family are you from? Nevermind that, come on! We're both late!"

He grabbed her hand and Jin suddenly found herself careering up the side of the wall, propelled by the stone. He dragged her round several hairpin corners and then so quickly that she didn't have the chance to be horrified drove them both into the solid rock. She could barely breathe as the earth squeezed around her until they burst out into the sunshine whereupon the boy let go of her and she fell to the ground.

"Kogu, Jin, you're late. Join us now."

Jin looked up to see Shiru sitting cross-legged on the grass, around him sat many others, children and adults, most looking up at her and the boy with either amusement or annoyance.

Jin sat down quickly and Kogu joined her. She wasn't sure whether she was doing it right, what ever it was that they were doing, they all just seemed to be sitting there with their eyes shut. Jin looked around with curiosity. Apart from the earth bending boy there were only two other children her own age, both boys and so alike that they must be brothers. Later they introduced themselves as Ichiro a light bender and his younger brother Takeo who could bend neither earth nor light.

Then there were another group who seemed to range in age from 13 to 15, the three girls who had woken her were sitting all together along with two other boys. In the final group she recognised the one called Aris, who had stolen her from the street. In the early morning sunlight he looked very much like Shiru but of course much younger, perhaps 18. Next to him sat another boy and a girl both about the same age.

At last a gong tolled, and everyone seemed to be finished. Around her, the people rose smoothly and began to move through martial drills. She followed along as best she could, feeling very lost and incompetent. One of the older girls sniggered when she fell over during one of the balances.

"Silence Pia!" Shiru snapped though it did not stop the shame that welled up inside Jin. '

After what seemed an age, they were finished and began to break away into groups according to their age. Jin remained with the three boys who looked at her with bold curiosity.

"I found her down in the stone passages." Said Kogu to the two others.

"She doesn't look like much." Admitted Ichiro who was the oldest of them by a year, "Who are you any way?"

Jin, annoyed with his pompous attitude spoke up, "I am Jin and you don't look like much either!"

"That's enough students!" Shiru's voice was calm and full of command.

The boys all inclined their heads, their hands over their fists, "yes Master Shiru." They intoned.

"This is Jin. She is a light bender and will be in your class from now on. You will be training with Master Tetsuya this morning so you had best hurry up and get to the training yard."

The boys' eyes widened when they heard what and who she was, and Jin stood a little taller. She followed them as they ran off across the garden and into a large wooden building.

Master Tetsuya was much younger than Master Shiru, though he wasn't a bender, he specialised in all forms of martial arts.

"Excellent, now there will be even pairs." Was all he said to Jin before he threw each of them a bamboo pole. They drilled moves all morning across the wooden floor. Jin was soon tired, her muscles aching. It was with relief that they were dismissed for breakfast which was a simple and rushed affair as the boy's explained they would be expected at their next lesson in a few minutes.

Ichiro pulled at Jin and she followed him through another hidden door through dim corridors until they arrived breathlessly in a room where Master Shiru was waiting for them along with (Jin supposed) the light benders from the other, older groups.

"Jin," Master Shiru inclined his head toward her, "this is Lota and Mira." He gestured toward a boy and a girl who knelt on the floor; they were around the age of 14 or 15. "And this is Aris who you have already met and Mikan who you haven't. They have almost mastered light bending. Almost." He added pointedly and looked sharply at the two men who were perhaps 17 or 18.

A candle was all that lit the room, and was placed in the centre of their circle.

Master Shiru spoke again, "Feel the light on your skin, I am not talking about heat, I am talking about the light filling every pore, pouring through every fibre of your clothes. Feel it flowing over you, covering you, each ray, and each beam is reflected from your body so that we all may see you. Realise this and you can use it to your advantage. Feel it as the light reflects away from you. Take hold of the light, ease it away from you, slip between the rays and disappear." As Master Shiru spoke he demonstrated, and around the room the students copied him. Jin had no problem with this as she had done it many times. Ichiro however, flickered once before he lost his grip on the light and returned to full visibility.

"Never mind, nephew, you will get it eventually."

The lesson went on, Jin soon realised how much there was to learn. Not only could a light bender manipulate external light sources to create illusions, she could also harness the energy of the sunlight that was within her that her body absorbed not just from the rays of the sun but also from digesting plants that relied on the sun to grow. She could manipulate this energy to increase her stamina, her endurance, her strength and her speed. She could summon this light from within to the outside just as she had seen Rima and Shiru do, creating light seemingly from her fingertips.

The lesson was finished far too quickly and she was led away to lunch which was a solemn occasion shared by the entire Clan it seemed at a long table in a great dining hall.

Kogu and Takeo had just had separate lessons but they rejoined Jin and Ichiro for the next class which was calligraphy, mathematics and history.

Jin was completely lost, shame filled her as she had to admit that she could not read nor write to the teacher named Master Fo, a middle aged woman who was not unkind and assured her that she would soon pick it up.

Jin followed the boys dejectedly from the schoolroom, but they did not mock her illiteracy. Instead they soon began to chat about what they hoped dinner would be and jovially tried to include Jin in their conversation.

Her first day had passed by in a blur and she found herself again in the room that she shared with the three older girls who were all in the class above. They made no effort to include her in their chatter though Jin did not mind; she was exhausted and ached all over. She unrolled her mat and was soon asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

It seemed that the existence of the school was a closely guarded secret, even from the few servants that Rima employed. Ostensibly she was the owner of the place and her neighbours knew only that she was a reclusive but wealthy widow who lived alone.

Hidden passages crisscrossed the mansion and tunnels ran deep underneath. Even when they were training outside they were shielded by an illusion of invisibility by Master Shiru. Jin wondered what the reason behind all this secrecy was. Visitors never called upon Rima yet the students were encouraged to tread quietly at all times. Stealth it seemed was the most valued skill that the Masters were drilling into them it came naturally to Jin, afterall it was no different to what she had been taught at Mother Lu's.

"But why must I hide myself even in the dark passages?" she finally asked Master Shiru half way through a private lesson that he was giving her, almost at the end her first week. She had grown more comfortable around these people now and had grown braver.

"To practice your lightbending of course." He dismissed her question but Jin would not be dissuaded.

"But what is it all for?"

"It is the way of the Clan; the Hikari strike with the swiftness, silence and invisibility of light and our enemies fall into the darkness."

"Enemies? Like the Dai Li?"

He looked at her then in surprise and Jin had the sense that he was re-evaluating her.

"The Dai Li? How do you know of this?" His voice betrayed his astonishment.

"I heard someone talking about them and about the Black Hana Family." She treaded carefully, she didn't want him to dismiss her again. She might have been young but she wanted answers to the things that she couldn't connect. She knew there was something more to this, to all of this. The Clan, the secrecy of the lightbenders, the enemies that he mentioned so passingly; what was it all for? She had experience with many kinds of people in her life on the street but she had never come across anything like this before.

He paused as though he was weighing his words carefully.

"What I am about to tell you, I was not going to reveal until you were older, but, perhaps you are ready to hear it now. The other children, they grow up amongst this, they learn it just as they learn how to walk and how to speak. But for you it might be difficult to hear and to adjust to. But you are more able than your age gives you credit, and I feel that you will be able to understand."

Jin sat, riveted, the single candle flickered across Master Shiru's face making his words all the more portentous, all the more eerie.

"As far as you can trace the generations back, the Hikari have been hidden. Though not all of us have been light benders or even benders at all, still we all adhere to the creed of the light. Our abilities make us… skilled at performing certain tasks, tasks that others could not hope to accomplish with our degree of aptitude. Few know of our Clan's existence but there are certain _organisations_ that do and there has been a partnership, if you will, between us and them that goes back centuries. This partnership is sacred and is governed by old laws and we have served each other since the earliest days of Ba Sing Se. Our skills allow us to be quite efficient at… eliminating the enemies of our allies. But just as we have dwindled in numbers, so to did our allies, our… _clients_ and the time came when the Head of our Clan, decided to accept an offer from a new organisation. The Dai Li. Now, the Dai Li had been responsible for the downfall of many of our allies whose activities (much like ours) existed outside of the order that the Dai Li tried to maintain. Many of the elders protested his decision but the Head was adamant. The times had changed, he said, and the Hikari had to change with the times. If we wanted to survive than our only option was to ally with the Dai Li and their new leader; a man named Long Feng. It was twenty-one years ago that Long Feng sought us out. He had a job for us, a job that required the kind of delicacy and precision that only we could offer. And the Head made a deal with Long Feng. We were to eliminate the Earth King so that Long Feng would be announced Regent over the new King who was only four years old at the time.

Jin gasped, the knot in her stomach that had been growing throughout these revelations twisted uncomfortably, these people who had been so nice to her, who had taken her in and wanted her for their own were killers, murderers and worse they wanted her to be like them.

"Yes, and we carried out our side of the bargain but Long Feng had no honour. He did not abide by the old rules that our other clients observed and no sooner had we completed our task than he turned on us and betrayed us. His Dai Li agents hunted us mercilessly for almost fifteen years and eventually he found us. One dreadful night he closed in on the house of Head of the Clan and his family, the Black Hana. None were left alive."

"But then, why don't you take your revenge against the Dai Li?" asked Jin in a quiet voice, if these people were killers why not eliminate their great threat?

"Because then the deaths of our people would be for nothing. Long Feng thought that he had wiped us out completely. We were a secret once more. Once more we were hidden, just as it always should have been. We should never have accepted Long Feng's offer. We should have remained true to the old laws and the old ways. If we struck back at the Dai Li, they would know that there were still, some of us left and we would be hunted once more. The Black Hana people sacrificed their lives to hide us again. We will not betray their legacy."

Then, as if he had noticed her uneasiness Master Shiru continued but along a slightly different track, "Jin, we are not bad people. Morality is fickle but honour is certain. We harbour no hatred toward those that we kill. We only cater to the needs of our clients. You will come to understand our ways. Now, think no more upon this, we must get back to your training."

Jin nodded obediently but inside she was already making up her mind. She would not stay here. She was no killer and they would never make her one. She was going back to Mother Lu's. A life of theft was better than a life of murder.


End file.
